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That's a total of 293 late departures in a row and up to 176 hours of waiting time for passengers en route to the Hungarian capital.

Figures for the delays were compiled by the flight data specialists EUclaim, which has a website with an online calculator that passengers can use to work out if they are entitled to compensation.

Wizz Air said the departure times do not qualify as delays however, as it said industry standards, applied by the CAA, "define all flights departing within 15 mins of the scheduled departure time, as on time".

On this basis, 73 per cent of the 295 departures Flight W62206 has made since June 1 last year were on time, a spokesman said. Of those flights, 78.6 per cent arrived on time at the other end in Budapest.

Overall, Wizz Air operates 28 routes from London Luton. The airline said that in November last year, its punctuality of 88 per cent on all Luton flights compared favourably to the 87 per cent punctuality of all airlines at the same airport.

Fifteen passengers have claimed compensation of £215 ($A386) for delays on the flight but more are entitled to, under EU rules.

Regulation 261 applies to a wait of anything more than three hours, cancelled flights and instances when passengers have been denied boarding.

The flight in question must have been departing from an airport within the EU or arriving in the EU on an EU airline and the delay must not be due to extraordinary circumstances.